Page 75 - The Mending Season

I found an excuse for why I had to stay where I was. Every time she brought up my family, I changed the subject. Finally I told her, “They are so stingy, I don’t think they’ll move. They want to save money all the time and I don’t like to argue with them about it.”I told KB that I liked taxis, that people were so strange and unusual it was always an interesting experience to ride in one. I brought cheese and polony sandwiches instead of peanut butter and jam to prove that we had money. I improved my accent by watching more English-language TV. I declined every invitation to go out with her because I could not afford to go to the movies every weekend and was too intimidated by Brittany and Sumaya to want to see them again. Trying to keep up with her tired me out but I liked the fact that she thought I was “classy”. One day she was telling me a story about someone she went to piano les­ sons with and she said, “You know what type ofperson she is? She’s not classy, like you and me.” So my parents went on being businesspeople because I loved being classy in KB’s eyes.The eleventh ofFebruary, 1990 was a sunny Sunday morn­ ing in the township. But this Sunday was different. People had woken up before dawn to clean their houses, sweep their yards, bathe and eat. Where children would normally have been on the streets, they were home tucked under their mothers’ arms or sitting at their fathers’ feet. The television channels roared with excitement. No one wanted to move away from their tel­ evision sets. Sunday felt unfamiliar, except for Mma Motsei’s gospel music. Church was the last thing on our minds. No one wanted to miss this.Then the strangest thing happened. Eight young men and two older men appeared at our open front door and knocked. The aunts and I stared up at them curiously. Whoever came to our house?75